Women, ride for your life: how to cycle safely in London

Female cyclists listen up: don’t let fear drive you off the road. You can make yourself seen and safe. Veteran biker Jasmine Gardner gives us her guide

Thursday 3 October 2013 09:07 BST

Sometimes I just can’t help myself. If a motorist is being particularly inconsiderate to cyclists on the road occasionally I decide to set him or her straight. It happened earlier this week. One elderly gent in his great big Mercedes was speeding down New Cavendish Street, beeping his horn at every cyclist he passed and making gestures like Moses trying to sweep aside a tide.

I don’t think he was expecting eye contact as he tried to swat me to the kerb and out of his way; even less was he expecting me to stop and make my own signal at him. No, not the finger, but the universal “wind down your window so I can give you a stern talking to” mime. He obliged and I informed him that, in fact, far from being in the gutter, it’s safer for a cyclist to take the lane, holding their position a door’s width away from parked cars. He referred a “young lady” — I assume he meant me — to the Highway Code. Perhaps the Old Man should re-take his test, since nowhere does it contradict me.

This may be a didactic tale, but not because I hope to advocate altercations in the street. En-route arguments are probably not wise and also pointless. I doubt I did anything to change this man’s view. I might even have made him angry — not the ideal state of mind for a man operating a weapon. Rather, the lesson is that even in the face of a driver who tries to intimidate and subsequently patronise her, no woman should be frightened off her bike.

According to British Cycling 30 per cent of non-cyclist women say that safety concerns are the main reasons they won’t do it. With a spate of summer cycling deaths in which week after week people were being crushed under lorries, who can blame them? Just over two weeks ago Maria Karsa was hit by a tipper truck at Aldgate and died later from her injuries. She was the fourth woman this year to suffer this tragedy. That all but one death of a female cyclist in the past three years has been as a result of a crash with a heavy goods vehicle has led many to speculate about whether women are more timid cyclists, with a tendency to dangerously hug the kerb when they commute by bike — putting them in the danger zone around lorries.

The truth is, says Mike Cavenett at the London Cycling Campaign, “nobody knows why women are crashing. People are making an educated guess and generalisation that it might be to do with riding behaviour or less experience”.

Conversely, Marigold Hughes, a former cycle courier whose short film Urban Birds follows four women who also do that job in London, has seen women get “preferential treatment” from drivers. “A white van man started shouting at one of the girls and when she took off her cap and he saw she was a woman he apologised.”

In my own experience (anecdotal not evidential) drivers and male cyclists alike are more likely to get frustrated being behind me at a junction, clearly assuming that as a woman I will be slow off the lights. I’ve heard far more stories from female colleagues who cycle of drivers telling them to “get the f*** off the road” than from male cyclist colleagues.

However, when it comes to casualties, as Cavenett points out, the split of cycling deaths between men and women has fluctuated greatly over the past five years. Last year, just one of the 14 people who died on their bikes was a woman. In 2009, 10 of the 12 deaths were women, nine of them involving HGVs. In most cases it’s more sensible to talk about careless driving and poor road layout being the cause than it is to talk of timid cyclists.

Nevertheless, if confidence and road awareness can help save lives, I’m all for it. It is for this reason that I’m a big advocate of cycle training. Society tells women we’re crap on the roads and it is training that taught me to know that I’m not, to know where to position myself on the road and consequently to know that almost every time a driver such as New Cavendish Man gets annoyed by my presence on the tarmac, I’m in the right.

This is not to say I never make mistakes and neither does it mean that all cyclists know what they’re doing. I often wince as I see both women and men cycling up the left-hand side of a bus or lorry at a junction, watch cautious cyclists weave in and out of the gutter to avoid parked cars and watch cyclists who are not cautious enough cruise through red lights.

I can only assume that these cyclists are still unaware that cheap or free training is available through their local authority.

Hughes has “never had training and has never been scared”, something she puts down to “never having been a motorist, so not being as aware of my vulnerability... You have to connect with the people around you when you are cycling, making sure they are aware of your presence”.

I have certainly had a few odd looks from the lorry drivers in their cabs when I turn to wave to them at traffic lights, but most smile and none have squashed me yet.

Hughes also believes that “your body builds up a physical memory from cycling and you learn to trust your instincts. As you train them they become more attuned and will keep you safe”.

If women don’t want training and don’t trust their instincts, perhaps they can take confidence from this: recently on BBC Radio 4’s More or Less programme, David Spiegelhalter, Winton professor of the public understanding of risk at Cambridge University, weighed up the risks against the benefits of cycling in London.

He concluded that the risk of dying on your bike during an hour of cycling is equivalent to the risk of two hours walking, five hours in the car or five minutes on a motorbike.

Additionally, if you are relatively fit the exercise involved in an hour of cycling should add an hour to your life expectancy (or two to three hours if you’re quite inactive). The air pollution will likely shave off a couple minutes of your life for each hour cycled while the risk of death will take off another 12 minutes per hour on the bike. The result is that rather than ensuring an early demise, cycling — even in London — could add to your lifespan by about 45 minutes for every hour you spend in the saddle.

What we do know for certain is that the number of women taking up cycling is increasing, with cyclists in general now making up more than half the traffic in certain areas during rush hour. The more of us there are on the road, the more aware car and lorry drivers will be and the more attention will be paid to our needs. The more women cycling, the safer we will all be on our bikes.

Never cycle up the left-hand side of a lorry or bus

You may have heard it before, but people still don’t know or don’t stick to this rule. The only exception is if you are absolutely certain the junction you are approaching has no left turn.

Take the lane

Hugging the kerb means weaving in and out of parked cars and around drains. Stay a car door’s width from the kerb or any parked cars. If there’s not enough space for a car to overtake you safely, don’t let it.

Make eye contact

The best way to make sure a driver has seen you is to look them in the eye and see their recognition — so look behind you as you manoeuvre. When in a vulnerable position, I like to draw attention to myself. I wave to truck drivers behind me at lights.

Cycle lanes are not mandatory

If a left-hand cycle or feeder lane is going to put you in a dangerous position (eg on the side of an HGV at lights), don’t use it — and don’t let any driver tell you that you must.

Get training

All these lessons and more from a professional will give you the confidence to stand your ground on the road. Book training for free or at low cost through http://bit.ly/tflcycletraining.